Abstract:

A method for updating data in a media storage location includes: storing
an identity on a portable electronic device, the identity allowing access
to the media storage location; storing a file in a device memory of the
portable electronic device, the file being captured by a media capturing
component of the portable electronic device; and performing a
synchronization operation using a media manager, the media manager being
in communication with the device memory and the media storage location;
the synchronization operation synchronizing data between the device
memory and the media storage location.

Claims:

1. A method for updating a media-sharing website, said method
comprising:storing an identity on a portable electronic device, said
identity allowing access to an account on said media-sharing
website;storing an image file in a device memory of said portable
electronic device, said image file being captured by a media capturing
component of said portable electronic device;performing a synchronization
operation using a media manager, said media manager being in
communication with said device memory and said account on said
media-sharing website;wherein said synchronization operation synchronizes
content between said device memory and said media-sharing website.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said synchronization operation
occurs in response to an update prompt.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one folder is stored
in device memory, said at least one folder storing said image file.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein a new folder is generated and
stored on said device memory.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a new folder is generated and
stored on said media-sharing website.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein new image files are provided
with a default file name at the time of storage, said default file name
including the name of said at least one folder and a number, said number
being the number of said image files in said at least one folder
incremented by one.

7. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said update prompt occurs at
regular intervals.

8. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said update prompt occurs when
there is a change in the device memory or the media-sharing website
account.

9. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said update prompt is generated
manually by a user.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said synchronization operation
includes copying folders and image files from said device memory to said
media-sharing website.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said synchronization operation
includes copying folders from said media-sharing website to said device
memory.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said media capturing component
is a camera and said media-sharing website is a photo-sharing website.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said media capturing component
is an audio/video recorder and said media-sharing website is an
audio/video-sharing website.

14. A method for updating data in a media storage location, said method
comprising:storing an identity on a portable electronic device, said
identity allowing access to said media storage location;storing a file in
a device memory of said portable electronic device, said file being
captured by a media capturing component of said portable electronic
device; andperforming a synchronization operation using a media manager,
said media manager being in communication with said device memory and
said media storage location;wherein said synchronization operation
synchronizes data between said device memory and said media storage
location.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said media storage location
is an account on a media-sharing website.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said media storage location
is a personal computer.

17. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said media storage location
is an external storage device.

18. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein new files are provided with a
default file name at the time of storage, said default file name
including the name of said at least one folder and a number, said number
being the number of said files in said at least one folder incremented by
one.

19. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said media capturing component
is a camera and said media-sharing website is a photo-sharing website.

20. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said media capturing
component is an audio/video recorder and said media-sharing website is an
audio/video-sharing website.

21. A portable electronic device comprising:at least one folder stored in
a device memory, said folder for storing files captured by a media
capturing component of said portable electronic device;a media manager
operable by a processor;an identity allowing access to a remote media
storage location;wherein said media manager is in communication with said
remote storage location to synchronize content between said device memory
and said media storage location.

22. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 21, wherein said
media storage location is an account on a media-sharing website.

23. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 21, wherein said
media storage location is a personal computer.

24. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 21, wherein said
media storage location is an external storage device.

25. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 21, wherein new files
are provided with a default file name at the time of storage, said
default file name including the name of said at least one folder and a
number, said number being the number of said files in said at least one
folder incremented by one.

26. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 22, wherein said
media capturing component is a camera and said media-sharing website is a
photo-sharing website.

27. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 22, wherein said
media capturing component is an audio/video recorder and said
media-sharing website is an audio/video-sharing website.

Description:

FIELD

[0001]The present disclosure relates to a method for storing media
captured using a portable electronic device, in particular, a method for
storing media in a manner that facilitates uploading of the media to a
personal computer and/or a media-sharing website.

BACKGROUND

[0002]As technology advances, electronic devices continue to become
smaller and include more features. Today, electronic devices such as cell
phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), for example, often include
phone, email and media capturing/playing capabilities. Often, digital
cameras that are integrated into the electronic devices produce photos
having a photo quality that is sufficiently high to allow the electronic
device to be used as a primary camera.

[0003]One drawback of both electronic device cameras and stand-alone
cameras is that the amount of memory available for photo storage is
limited. As a result, users must upload their photos to another storage
location frequently in order to free up storage space on the camera. Many
photo-sharing websites exist where users can store their photos for
others to view. Examples of photo-sharing websites include: Flickr®,
Webshots®, Fotolog® and MyPhotoAlbum®. In order to upload photos
from an electronic device including a camera, the photos are first saved
on a personal computer and then uploaded to the photo-sharing website by
selecting photos from one or more folders on the computer. Alternatively,
the photos may be uploaded directly to the photo-sharing website by
emailing the photos to an email address associated with the website. Once
the photos have been uploaded, they can be organized and stored in
albums.

[0004]Photo-sharing accounts often include hundreds or even thousands of
photos. The photos may be organized into existing albums or new albums
may be created. In addition, meta tags may be associated with the photos
in order to allow users to locate photos quickly. The capturing, naming,
uploading and organizing processes associated with storing photos
captured using an electronic device on a personal computer and/or on a
photo-sharing website can be very time consuming. Since these tasks are
repeated frequently, it is desirable to reduce the amount of user time
spent performing one or more of the steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]The embodiments will be better understood with reference to the
following Figures in which like numerals denote like parts and in which:

[0006]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system;

[0007]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of a portable electronic
device according to an embodiment;

[0008]FIG. 3 is an exemplary view of a folder structure for storing files
on a portable electronic device;

[0009]FIG. 4 is a view of an example media website webpage;

[0010]FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of capturing and storing an
image on the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0011]FIGS. 6 through 12 are screen shots of a camera application on the
portable electronic device depicting the method of FIG. 6; and

[0012]FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a method of updating a media-sharing
website from the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013]In one aspect there is provided a method for updating a
media-sharing website, the method including: storing an identity on a
portable electronic device, the identity allowing access to an account on
the media-sharing website; storing a file in a device memory of the
portable electronic device, the file being captured by a media capturing
component of the portable electronic device; performing a synchronization
operation using a media manager, the media manager being in communication
with the device memory and the account on the media-sharing website;
wherein the synchronization operation synchronizes content between the
device memory and the media-sharing website.

[0014]In another aspect there is provided a method for updating data in a
media storage location, the method including: storing an identity on a
portable electronic device, the identity allowing access to the media
storage location; storing a file in a device memory of the portable
electronic device, the file being captured by a media capturing component
of the portable electronic device; and performing a synchronization
operation using a media manager, the media manager being in communication
with the device memory and the media storage location; wherein the
synchronization operation synchronizes data between the device memory and
the media storage location.

[0015]In another aspect there is provided a portable electronic device
including: at least one folder stored in a device memory, the folder for
storing files captured by a media capturing component of the portable
electronic device; a media manager operable by a processor; an identity
allowing access to a remote media storage location; wherein the media
manager is in communication with the remote storage location to
synchronize content between the device memory and the media storage
location.

[0016]Referring now to FIG. 1, a communication system 10 for a portable
electronic device 12 is generally shown. The portable electronic device
12 is operable to effect voice and data communications over a radio
communications channel and communicates with a base station (not shown)
while located within a coverage area that is defined by the base station.
The base station is part of a wireless network (not shown) that is in
communication with the Internet 14. Data is delivered to the portable
electronic device 12 via wireless transmission from the base station.
Similarly, data is sent from the portable electronic device 12 via
wireless transmission to the base station. A server 18 handles wireless
client requests from the portable electronic device 12. A firewall, or
proxy server, 16, is provided between the server 18 and the Internet 14.

[0017]It will be appreciated that the portable electronic device 12 is
movable within the coverage area and can be moved to coverage areas
defined by other base stations. Further, as will be understood by one
skilled in the art, wireless networks include GSM/GPRS, CDPD, TDMA, iDEN,
Mobitex, DataTAC networks, EDGE, EVDO or UMTS and broadband networks such
as Bluetooth and variants of 802.11.

[0018]Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of certain components,
including internal components within the portable electronic device 12,
is shown. The portable electronic device 12 is based on a microcomputer
that includes a microprocessor 38 connected to a random access memory
(RAM) unit 40 and a persistent storage device, which in the present
embodiment is a flash memory 42 that is responsible for various
non-volatile storage functions of the portable electronic device 12.
Operating system software 20 executable by the microprocessor 38 is
stored in the flash memory 42. It will be appreciated, however, that the
operating system software 20 can be stored in other types of memory such
as read-only memory (ROM). In the present embodiment, software
applications 22 including Personal Information Manager (PIM) applications
are stored in the persistent storage device 42 for execution by the
microprocessor 38 for carrying out various functions. The microprocessor
38 receives input from various input devices including selection device
30, such as a trackball or a thumbwheel, for example, escape key 32,
keypad 34, and media capturing hardware 44 and outputs to various output
devices including LCD display 24, speaker 26 and LED indicator 28.

[0019]As indicated above, the flash memory 42 stores a plurality of
applications executable by the microprocessor 38 that enable the portable
electronic device 12 to perform certain operations including the
communication operations referred to above. Applications software is
provided including, for example, PIM applications such as an email
application, an address book application, a calendar application, a
camera application, an audio/video application and a tasks application,
as well as other applications such as a Web browser application, an
options application and a profiles application.

[0020]In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text
message or Web page download is processed by the communications subsystem
46 and input to the microprocessor 38 for further processing of the
received signal for output to the LCD display 24. A user of the portable
electronic device 12 can also compose data items within a software
application such as an e-mail messaging application using the keypad 34,
for example, in conjunction with the selection device 30 and the LCD
display 24. Such composed items can then be transmitted over the wireless
network through the communications subsystem 46 and antenna 48.

[0021]The media capturing hardware 44 includes a camera and may further
include an audio/video recorder or an audio recorder. The camera software
is a Java application that interfaces with the camera. Images captured by
the camera are stored in flash memory 42 on the device 12. The images may
alternatively be stored in a removable memory, such as a smartcard, a
compact flash memory, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) drive, a SIM
(Subscriber Identity Module) card or another suitable memory. Different
types of device memory offer different storage capabilities. For example,
SIM cards include a relatively small amount of storage space for image
files. The image storage location is a setting that is adjustable by the
user. Once the device memory is selected, folders may be created in the
selected device memory to organize images on the portable electronic
device 12. An example of a folder structure on the device 12 is shown in
FIG. 3.

[0022]Referring to FIG. 4, an example media-sharing website webpage is
generally shown. Many different media-sharing websites are available for
public use on the Internet including photo-sharing websites: Flickr®,
Webshots®, Fotolog® and MyPhotoAlbum®, for example. These
websites allow users to create accounts and store photos. Multiple
folders and sub-folders can be created to organize photos.

[0023]Referring to FIG. 5, a method for capturing and storing an image on
a portable electronic device 12 is generally shown. It will be
appreciated that the method of FIG. 5 is not limited to images. The
method may alternatively be applied to video clips captured using a video
recorder of the portable electronic device and audio clips captured using
an audio recorder of the portable electronic device. It will be
appreciated that the term video clips includes video clips having audio
and video-only clips.

[0024]At step 50, the camera application is opened on the portable
electronic device 12 by selecting a camera application icon (not shown)
from the display 24 or by selecting a convenience key on the portable
electronic device 12 (not shown). Once the device 12 is operating in
camera mode, which is shown in FIG. 6, the user is able to capture an
image.

[0025]Prior to capturing an image, at step 52, the user clicks on a
current folder box 66, which includes a default folder name, in order to
view a folder drop down list 68, which is shown in FIG. 7. The default
folder name that is displayed corresponds to the folder in which the last
captured image was stored. After viewing the folder drop down list 68,
the user determines whether or not an appropriate folder exists on the
device 12, as indicated at step 54. If the folder exists, it is selected
from the folder drop down list 68, as indicated at step 58. If the folder
does not exist, a new folder is created, as indicated at step 56.

[0026]At step 60, a default filename is assigned for the next image to be
captured. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, a filename box 70 is automatically
populated based on the folder selection. The default filename includes:
the folder name, an underscore character and the next available image
number in that folder. In the example of FIG. 8, the default filename is
"Family_12", which indicates that there are already 11 images stored in
the folder named "Family".

[0027]Once the storage destination of the next captured image has been
determined, the user takes a picture, as indicated at step 62. As step
64, the image is stored in the selected folder and provided with the
default filename. Message bar 72 on the display 24 of FIG. 9 confirms the
storage operation.

[0028]Creation of a new folder at step 56 will now be described. Referring
to FIGS. 10 and 11, the user selects a "New Folder" option from the
folder drop down list 68 and a folder naming window 74 is launched. The
user then types in a name for the new folder, as shown in FIG. 12, and
clicks "ok". The new folder has then been created and is selectable from
the folder drop down list 68.

[0029]Once images are captured using the camera and the image files stored
on the portable electronic device 12, the image files and may be uploaded
to a photo storage location on a personal computer, an external storage
device and/or a photo-sharing website.

[0030]A method for updating a media-sharing website from the portable
electronic device 12 is generally shown in FIG. 13. It will be
appreciated that although the method is described for a photo-sharing
website, the media-sharing website could alternatively be a website on
which video clips and/or audio clips are stored, for example.

[0031]At step 76, an identity with the photo-sharing website is stored on
the device 12. The identity is created in a manner that is well known in
the art and includes a user name and password. The identity allows the
device 12 access to an account on the photo hosting website without
requiring live user input. The identity is stored in flash memory 42 and
may be the same as a work identity, an instant messaging identity or
another on-line photo account identity. It will be appreciated that the
identity may alternatively be stored in a removable memory, such as a
smartcard, a compact flash memory, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) drive, a
SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card or another removable memory. In
addition, the identity may be stored on-line.

[0032]At step 78, at least one image file is captured by the camera of the
portable electronic device 12 and stored on the device 12 in the memory
location that was previously selected by the user. The image file may be
stored directly on the selected device memory or alternatively folders
may be created to organize the photos.

[0033]At steps 80 and 82, a photo manager that is in communication with
the device memory and the account on the photo-sharing website performs a
synchronization operation in response to an update prompt. The
synchronization operation includes: synchronizing folder structure
between the device 12 and the photo-sharing website and uploading image
files from the device 12 to the photo-sharing website. Synchronizing
folder structure includes copying folder information from the device 12
to the photo-sharing website and vice versa in order to maintain parallel
folder structure therebetween. Uploading image files includes copying the
image files from the folders on the device 12 to similar folders on the
photo-sharing website.

[0034]Once the synchronization operation has completed, the folder
structure in the device memory and the photo-sharing website account is
aligned and the image files have been uploaded, as indicated at step 84.

[0035]The photo manager is a software application that is stored in flash
memory 42 and is executable by the processor 38. During the
synchronization operation, data is transferred via the photo manager
application, a web browser or an alternate software application 22 on the
portable electronic device 12 to the account on the photo-sharing
website. The data transfer occurs in response to the update prompt which
is generated manually by the user or automatically at times specified in
the photo manager settings.

[0036]The user generates the update prompt manually by opening the photo
manager application and connecting to the photo-sharing account using the
identity. The user then navigates through menu options using the
selection device 30 to initiate the synchronization operation.

[0037]The update prompt settings of the photo manager control when and how
often automatic synchronization updates between the device 12 and the
photo-sharing website are performed. The user settings may be changed on
the device 12 or, if the identity is stored on-line, changed in the
on-line identity and synchronized to one another.

[0038]The update prompt may be set to occur at regular intervals, such as
every day or every week, for example, or set to initiate the
synchronization operation in response to a change in the folder structure
and/or content at the device 12, the photo-sharing website or both.
Restrictions to the synchronization process may be set including only
allowing updates when the device 12 has access to a transfer medium that
has a minimum predefined speed. For example, the updates may be set to
occur when the device 12 is operating on an EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM
environment) network, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
network or another high speed network. Alternatively, for dual-mode
wide-area-network (WAN) and cellular devices, updates may be prompted to
occur when in WAN coverage. Further, an application may be provided to
ping the photo-sharing website and perform updates when there is less
traffic on the network to allow for faster file transfer.

[0039]It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the
synchronization operation is not limited to including both folder
alignment and image file upload to the photo-sharing website. Instead, a
folder synchronization update prompt could be provided to initiate a
folder synchronization operation and an upload update prompt could be
provided to initiate an image file upload operation. For example, the
folder synchronization update prompt could be set to occur when changes
folder structure in the device 12 and/or the photo-sharing website are
detected and the upload update prompt could be set to occur once per
week. Further, although upload has been described as including only
copying image files from the device 12 to the photo-sharing website,
uploading could also include copying image files from the photo-sharing
website to the device 12. A user setting would be provided to specify the
parameters for uploading.

[0040]In another embodiment, the update prompt does not automatically
initiate the synchronization operation. Instead, the photo manager
prompts the user of the device 12 to perform an update when the device 12
is plugged into a personal computer. When plugged into the personal
computer, the device 12 has access to faster bandwidth, which will
increase the speed of data transfer. The photo manager may send a pop-up
message or prompt the user in another manner in order to notify the user
that there is an update to be performed. In this embodiment, the
synchronization operation is launched by the user and does not take place
automatically.

[0041]In yet another embodiment, the photo manager is stored on-line
rather than on the portable electronic device 12. When an update is
performed, files are transferred from the device 12 to the on-line photo
manager. The files are then distributed from the photo manager to a
single or multiple photo-sharing website accounts. Storing the photo
manager on-line provides more memory since there is no device memory
limitation. Further, people other than the user are able to access the
photo manager when it is on-line so that viewing and editing operations
within the photo manager is not limited to the user.

[0042]Specific embodiments have been shown and described herein. However,
modifications and variations may occur to those skilled in the art. All
such modifications and variations are believed to be within the sphere
and scope of the present embodiments.